Morning Rituals

One sure fire way to improve your mood, increase your output, focus your day, and just all around kick butt… Create and Practice inspiring and empowering rituals. Let’s first look at your morning ritual.

Yes, you do have one…

But does it serve you?

Everyone has a morning ritual and I must say that I have never met anyone whose morning, every morning, was so drastically different that they didn’t have a pattern of do’s and movements that they did regularly, most mornings and usually in the same order.

Let’s do a simple comparison to help make a point. We need to decide if a new ritual will make a significant difference.

PERSON A:

Wakes up every morning to 2 presses of the snooze button. Struggles out of bed and drags themselves to the kitchen to prepare the morning coffee. Person “A” then turns on the TV and watches the most depressing show on planet earth… The News. If “Person A” has children then there may be a few well placed screams on the way to the bathroom before they realize that time is running short. The rush begins, quick brush, quick change, a few more yells, quickly check emails and social networks and boom out the door. Their mind is rushed, stressed and cluttered. Their body is stiff and acidic. They are not really connected at all to how they feel or what they feel. Then the day takes over them instead of them taking the day.

Now let’s look at the next version…

PERSON B

Wakes up EARLY with one beep of the alarm and often they wake up just moments before the alarm goes off. They jump in for a quick shower (maybe even cold) and get dressed in some relaxed clothing. They drink two glasses of water and prepare their workout area. They get their mat out and begin a series of exercises lasting anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes. Workout time ends and they sit down comfortably for 5 minutes of deep breathing and meditation simply focusing on their breath. They prepare a cup of coffee or tea and sit down to begin journaling. Often spending 2 minutes writing down what they are grateful for and 3 minutes writing down their goals for the day. They jump back in the shower and turn on their audio book (HINT: It’s something personal growth related and positive by nature). Still listening they get dressed and realize they have an extra 20 minutes to check their emails and messages before the kids wake up (No Kids? Well you might get even more done before half of the people you know are even awake). Preparation time for the rest of the morning and off to work… or not… because work just might be doing what you love to do.

I know it may seem daunting at first to wake up early but, give is a go. Start slow, and before you know it you’ll look forward to waking up. So, here’s a little recipe to follow. It’s called S.A.V.E.R.S.

Take a look at the pic and see that each letter represents a habit that has been found to be highly beneficial to a stress-less life and outcome focused future. The top 3% of the most successful people on the planet have rituals that support who they are. Now it’s time for you to give it a try. Just try and if you fail remember, don’t give up. Failure is expected because it will shape your will. Keep going, believe that you can do it and have faith that your morning ritual will make a difference.